Kohli has given a lot of years to RCB, we need to do our best for him: Rajat Patidar
Ahmedabad (PTI): Virat Kohli has given 18 years of his senior cricket career to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and their first-time skipper Rajat Patidar understands what it would mean for the team to win the coveted Indian Premier League title for one of country's bonafide cricket legends.
In all, RCB have played a total of three finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016 and have ended up on the losing side in each of the summit clashes with Kohli’s individual brilliance not being enough for them to end their title drought.
“Of course. I think he has given a lot of years to RCB and the international side also. We will try to do our best in the game,” Patidar told media here during his pre-match press conference alongside PBKS’ Shreyas Iyer when asked if the Kohli factor would dominate the build-up.
When asked if focus on one player alone was frustrating given RCB have been one of the most dominant sides in this competition, Patidar replied, “I think it is not frustrating for me. We are not looking on the stage that we are in the finals. We will try to play our best cricket. We are not playing here for the stage. I always like to keep things simple”.
The Kohli factor has certainly weighed heavily on RCB drawing strong crowd support even while playing away from home and Patidar said that gives them feeling of being on their home ground.
“Wherever we go, we feel that the crowd is a home ground for us and (given ) the way they are showing support and love from the (last many) years,” he said.
RCB, however, will be concerned over the availability of big-hitting Tim David, who has not featured in their last two matches so far owing to a hamstring injury.
“Till now, I have no idea about Tim David. Doctors are there and we will get to know this evening,” he said.
For Patidar himself, it will be a big challenge given he was appointed RCB’s captain only before the start of the tournament, while the leader in the opposition camp, Shreyas Iyer won the IPL with his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders last year.
Iyer is also the only captain in IPL history to have led three different teams — Delhi Capitals, KKR and now Punjab Kings — into IPL finals.
Patidar said for him it would be essential to create a good environment for his players.
“Till now, I have enjoyed a lot to be honest. For me, I think it is a great opportunity to learn from the great leaders of the game, (some) great players, great foreign players of the game. It is a great opportunity for me to learn from them and their different ideas, which is helping me a lot in my leadership role,” he said.
“I have always tried to create a good environment off the field as much as I can so that every player, whether it is a domestic player or an international player, they both feel the same. They should feel relaxed and confident. I think this is my first point,” Patidar added.
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KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
